Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End [PC, PS4]

[Winjer]

30 fps e 900p, isso é uma queda muito grande em relação aos 1080p a 60 fps, prometidos quando apresentaram o jogo...

[Jorge-Vieira]

Uncharted 4 Character Lead Artist Emphasizes The Importance of Teamwork at Naughty Dog

Frank Tzeng, Lead Character Artist of Uncharted 4 at Naughty Dog explains how “quality is everything” for the studio and how this affects his work.

Quality is everything

“I love Naughty Dog. Naughty Dog gave me a lot of freedom to create the character that I wanted to do, and we value quality so much that we are willing to sacrifice a lot of stuff to just get whatever we want.
So, if I show you a character, this character may not just have been done once. Maybe he got approved three times, four times, but we just go back and keep changing him because we just want to get that perfection down that we wanted to get.

This is how Naughty Dog works. Quality basically is everything to us. It’s very important stuff. That enables me to practice more and more, and just get some really good stuff going on”.

Even if we already know the attention to detail and quality that Naughty Dog is capable of, it’s good to know that the same holds true for the latest iteration in the Uncharted series. Helmed by creative director Neil Druckmann and game director Bruce Straley, Uncharted 4 could very well become the crowning achievement of the franchise. Judging from the duo’s impeccable work on The Last of Us, one of the most highly acclaimed games of all time, there is absolutely no doubt that we will be getting one of the greatest gaming experiences the industry has ever seen.

During the Playstation Experience we witnessed a 15-minute gameplay demo of the game and it was mind-blowing. Breathtakingly beautiful vistas and amazing level design, coupled with truly great gameplay and genre innovating advancements. There was a particular moment that literally blew my mind, where Drake jumped to an enemy below, punched him on the face and then grabbed his falling gun and shot a second enemy on the ledge above. That was truly some really dynamic gameplay.

Tzeng, continues on the importance of teamwork
“This is all teamwork. I cannot do it by myself. I have a really good team by myself. We have a really good shader artist, we have a lot of talented character artists. It’s all teamwork. I don’t want to take all the credit by myself, because everything we do… For example, this one, even though I did the model, I did the eyebrow… all the stuff… the shader has been made by the shader artist. Without the shader this model would never look like this, so it’s all team effort.



My part, texturing, sculpting, modeling, is only a part of it. In the game industry it’s all teamwork.”
At closing, he mentioned the importance of subtle changes,
“This is basically the same work that I do at Naughty Dog as well. In order to achieve the feeling that we want, it’s all about subtle changes. All the subtle changes added can change the whole character”.
There is no doubt that the Uncharted series remains one of the most beloved gaming franchises in the industry and millions of people look forward to the release of Uncharted 4. Combining great gameplay with truly interesting characters, for which you really get to care about, some very interesting story telling coupled with excellent voice work and motion capture, provides some incredibly moving experiences.





There is no release date for Uncharted 4 yet, but we will surely have an announcement at E3 later this year. A fall 2015 release is very likely, as there was confirmation that the game is indeed coming out this year. Given how many games get delayed lately, lets just hope that this remains true and that we get to experience what is probably going to be a breathtaking gaming experience, soon enough.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-4-char...#ixzz3RNIJ7Ebg

[Jorge-Vieira]

Gorgeous Looking Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End Concept Art Surfaces

There is no doubt that Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End is one of the most highly anticipated and highly awaited games of 2015. The game looks absolutely gorgeous with its releases may those be concept art or footages. And after the somewhat unexpected turnout for the latest exclusive of the PlayStation 4 i.e. The Order: 1886, it is more important that Uncharted 4 wipes the floor with the rest of the releases. Bloodborne is another awaited exclusive but it serves to a completely different group of people because of it’s dark and grimm gameplay. So far, Uncharted 4 has not disappointed us and in that stead we have another gorgeous looking art to feast our eyes.

Gorgeous Concept Art Show Nathan Drake Making His Way Through the Ruins

The new concept art was released via the concept artist Eytan Zana and it shows Nathan making his way across the ruins. The new release in the uncharted series is expected to raise the bar for all future games just like The Order: 1886. Although not praised by many critics as a game, but it certainly was one hell of a game graphics wise and it really did set the bar very high for any future game releases. Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End is expected to make its appearance at E3 2015 and with lots of anticipation behind the game, it is sureshot that the developers will not go easy on it. Now, lets have a look at that concept art we were talking about:



Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End is set 3 years after the events of Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception where Nathan Drake has left the world of hunting behind him. However, things change when Nathan’s Brother Sam comes back knocking on Nathan’s door offering an adventure Nathan just can’t resist and saving his brothers neck in the meantime. Sam and Nathan then set off on a for Captain Henry Avery’s long-lost treasure which is supposedly deep into the forests of Madagascar where dangers await the brothers. This release of Uncharted covers all the globe ranging from thick jungle islands to urban cities and snow-capped peaks of the North.
Uncharted 4: A Thiefs End has had its fans captivated ever since its announcement back in the PlayStation Experience event. As a reminder to everyone, this is an exclusive to the PlayStation 4 console which it intends to push t its limits leaving behind very little chance of its appearance at the previous gen PlayStation 3 console without compromising heavily on game quality and in-game resolution. It is a very popular title and hence the expectations are very high at the moment. To see if it fulfils the expectations, we’ll just have to wait and watch.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/gorgeous-unchart...#ixzz3SUfbsgzK

[Winjer]

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - the story behind the biggest game of the year

Everything was Uncharted. You’ll have seen the jokes, no doubt – the ones that pointed out how many games at E3 2012 seemed to be based on an external interpretation of the Naughty Dog design document. That show brought a host of linear games built on tightly scripted spectacle, sacrificing player agency for the whims of a stubborn author. The complaint was aimed at other developers, at an industry in thrall to the cookie cutter, but it stung Naughty Dog by extension as well. Many of those games have since turned out to be nothing like Uncharted. At December’s PlayStation Experience (PSX) event, filmed live in Vegas and streamed around the world, Naughty Dog suggested Uncharted 4 wasn’t, in the E3 2012 pejorative sense of the term, very Uncharted either. Over the course of a day inside the Santa Monica studio, we are shown the proof of it. Within half an hour, game director Bruce Straley has summed it up perfectly. “There’s no one golden path,” he tells us. “It’s not just as simple as pushing forward on the stick all the time.”It’s a telling line. Straley is explaining Uncharted 4’s expanded traversal and climbing system, but it’s a valid summation of what we’ve seen of the game as a whole. More to the point, it shows the studio is keenly aware of the criticism – often overstated, but not entirely unfounded – of the way it has historically made its games. ‘Just pushing forward on the stick’? It’s what other people say about the Uncharteds, and the games that have followed in their wake. “I don’t really consider what other people are saying,” Straley says. “But when you do read it, in falls into alignment with what you’re already thinking as a player and developer. It reinforces what you’re already considering doing.”
Creative director Neil Druckmann backs Straley up: “We’re evolving as developers. We have different sensibilities in what we’re attracted to in games, and what we want to play. If we were making Uncharted 2 today, it would probably be a very different game.”
Druckmann was a mere lead designer on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the creative director’s chair instead filled by Amy Hennig, who left in still-unspecified, but seemingly acrimonious circumstances early last year. Any hope of getting clarification on that is shut down almost as soon as we walk into the studio, the prospect not so much taken off the table as set on fire and thrown out the window, and the table with it. But her departure, and that of series’ design lead Richard Lemarchand, has presented Straley and Druckmann with a fresh start. As has the move to a new generation of consoles, PS4’s power allowing perhaps the most technically capable studio on the planet today to stretch itself even further. Straley and Druckmann have matured as developers, and taken Naughty Dog as a whole along with them. The studio’s method of making games has evolved, and Drake has had to change in kind.

As Straley suggests early on in our visit, the climbing system was the logical starting point. Ever since Nathan Drake first reached for a glimmering handhold in 2007’s Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, this series’ climbing systems have been exercises in linearity, in following a single, obvious path to the next combat scene or set-piece. The PSX demo, and the extended version we’re shown at the studio, do a poor job of conveying just how much that has changed. At a glance, Drake’s clambering seems to be the same as ever, a semi-automated journey between conveniently placed and similarly coloured ledges and handholds. There are new tools, but the 2014 Nathan Drake’s piton mimics the 2013 Lara Croft’s climbing axe right down to the look of the surfaces on which it can be used, while the grapple rope can only be attached to preordained points marked with a button prompt. When Drake misjudges a jump and nearly falls, saved only by the tips of his fingers, it is hard to resist a roll of the eyes.
At the studio, Straley plays through the sequence again, stopping periodically to explain exactly what we’re looking at. He takes a totally different route. Uncharted’s climbing has been drastically overhauled, its PS3-era animation system scrapped and rebuilt to allow full analogue movement through 360 degrees using real body physics. ‘Slip events’, as Straley calls them, are not mapped to individual parts of scenery but triggered by the angle and distance of Drake’s jump, as well as the type of handhold. Smaller, less stable ones will break more easily; if they do, you’ll need to take another route. Where Croft’s axe was little more than a different animation for the trip along the critical path, here the piton is designed to empower freedom. Those grapple points may be fixed, but they’re multipurpose – you can swing, as Straley did at PSX, but also abseil, climb, or run along and around cliff faces. Uncharted’s most linear system has become remarkably freeform. Instead of pushing up on the stick, you’re solving a puzzle. It’s not about finding the start of the path and sticking to it, but forging your own.
The same applies to combat. Here, too, are moments that whiff of the cinematics designer’s hand – though it’s hard to complain when you’ve just swung across a gap on a rope, let go, smacked a goon in the face on your way down, grabbed his rifle out of the air and started shooting at the next poor fool in your way – but the improvements are immediately apparent. There’s the enemy AI, which has been afforded a similar traversal moveset to Drake’s, enabling opponents to jump gaps and clamber up ledges in pursuit of their quarry, a true generational leap from the days when foes would spawn behind cover and stay there. Break line of sight – by crouching into the dense, reactive foliage, perhaps, or dropping yourself off a ledge – and enemies won’t return to their preset patrol routes, but stay in place or seek you out, communicating all the while. Uncharted 4’s combat isn’t just about shooting, but a blend of stealth, traversal, melee and gunplay set in a vast, vertical space full of opportunities. Suddenly, a series once famed for its linearity feels uncommonly like a sandbox.
Yet this has not been a sudden change. It is the evolution of a process that began in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, when Drake gained the ability to fire a gun from any traversal state. Straley says it’s about “building up mechanics that you can use again and again, that scale properly. For me, it’s all about systems, about boiling down the essence of the systems so you can properly layer them. It empowers the player to toy around.” He recalls a level from a former Naughty Dog game, 2003’s Jak II, in which the protagonist rode a rocket. Straley died a dozen times working out the mechanics, and many more times working his way through the level. “Then I never saw that rocket again for the rest of a 40-hour experience. I didn’t like the design process in Jak II; it didn’t feel like there were really systems. It was the first time I got angry about our own development internally.” It is sometimes easy to forget that Naughty Dog existed before Uncharted. It has been in business for 30 years, 25 under its current name, and has been learning all the while.

Yet Jak II isn’t quite the game that springs most readily to mind as we watch the new demo. Instead, thoughts turn to Naughty Dog’s most widely acclaimed title, the one that saw Druckmann and Straley become the studio’s creators in chief. There is a tremendous amount of The Last Of Us here, especially in the fluid, alternating switches between combat and stealth against enemies that communicate and move around freely. Drake closes out the demo by rope-swinging away from the final group of grunts, a callback to the lightbulb moment in TLOU when you first realised evasion was as valid a strategy as clearing out the entire room. “That’s been part of our evolution,” Straley says. “It’s us getting more comfortable with systemic approaches, with wider layouts, with how you integrate story with gameplay, with layout, with music. It’s been a constant evolution.”
The most transformative evolution of them all comes courtesy not of those within Naughty Dog’s walls, however, but those of its parent company. No other studio pushed PS3 quite as hard as this one, and you need only look at the demo’s vast expanse to see how Naughty Dog is enjoying the lofty headroom afforded by PS4’s processors. “The way we had to work with memory management inside of The Last Of Us just to get the width that we had there was crazy. It was insane,” Straley says. “The Duck tape and Scotch tape that we used to cobble those levels together just to get it to run properly… Now we can say, ‘Aah, we have some memory. Let’s play with this a little bit’. You can breathe, and let the player breathe a little bit as well.”
The result is the prettiest game the new generation has yet produced. Texture resolution has been at least quadrupled across the board from Uncharted 3, but that’s just the start. Drake comes to on the shore of an island off the coast of Madagascar, waking up to a backdrop of procedurally tessellated water. A new dynamic wind system makes trees, bushes and Drake’s hair – both on his head and his chest – sway in tandem. Up close, a system that was co-developed by Naughty Dog and Sony’s Advanced Technology Group delivers a more efficient way of making highly detailed surfaces without using performance-hungry adaptive tessellation; farther away, the studio is relying far more on background LOD algorithms than it ever has before. A new physically based shader more than two years in the making helps materials to look lifelike using their real-world properties. The improvements to Drake’s climbing skills are best shown on a wireframe climbing wall filled with perhaps 100 handholds. As he clambers, the shape of his body adapts to the changing shape of the wall; we’re told that there are unique animations for two-thirds of his transitions. On PS3, Drake’s entire skeleton was made up of 250 bones. Now, there are 800 in his face alone.
With all that going on, it’s little surprise that the demo runs at 30fps, despite Naughty Dog’s earlier claims that it was shooting for 60. “We’re actually above 30, but we locked it [for the demo],” Straley says (out on the floor, a debug station shows the game running at 37fps). “We’re going to do whatever it takes to make the game we want to make. If it means we could go for 60 but lose something that would really impact the player’s experience, then it’s our choice as developers to say, ‘Well, we’re going to go for the experience over the 60 frames.’”

Refresh rate aside, it’s a remarkable achievement, especially for a studio that, thanks to spending the previous generation working solely on PS3, had no PC version of its engine and thus had a more painful transition to PS4’s x86 architecture than most. Straley and Druckmann may take top billing, but you simply can’t create a game of this visual calibre without a tremendously skilled workforce. Modestly, Druckmann says it’s all about trust, that the scene he writes will pass through the hands of actors, cinematographers, artists, animators and so on, each interpreting it in their own way, before it makes it into the game. Nolan North, Drake’s voice actor, offers the outsider’s perspective.
“They’ve got amazing minds here,” he tells us. “Everyone does everything so well. I remember hearing one time that the test [applicants take] to work here… People have come in, ready to go, they take the test and they literally walk out crying. This is the MIT of the game world. There’s some amazing developers out there, but there’s something about this one that has made so many great games, and I think it’s the people. This couldn’t be done just anywhere. There’s something about the way they harness what the PlayStation can do that’s special.”
PlayStation 4 can do so much more, of course, but it also presents Naughty Dog with a problem. The console’s runaway success means the studio can reasonably expect its next game to be bought by players that have never played an Uncharted game. The goal of many sequels is to draw the old fans and grab new ones to create a bigger audience than before, of course, but here the gap is sure to be more pronounced. And three games of baggage is a heavy load, even for one of the best writing teams in the business.
“The story has to stand on its own, definitely,” says Druckmann. “And I think there should be enough hints and reveals to make you understand who Nathan Drake was in those previous adventures, even if you haven’t played them. If you have, then you’ll understand, on a much deeper level, the nuances both of Drake and his relationships.”

In fact, the ending of Uncharted 3 gives Naughty Dog a clean break of sorts. The new game kicks off four years later, with Drake settled down and retired from a life of adventure. He’s lured back into his old ways by his brother, Sam, another treasure hunter whom Nathan has believed to be dead since he last saw him some 15 years ago. All that time ago, the pair were obsessed with finding treasure plundered by Henry Every, a pirate who amassed the largest ever haul of booty in the space of two years in the late 17th century, mostly looted in his capture of the Persian ship Gunsway, and believed to be worth half a billion dollars by modern standards. While Nathan moved on, Sam continued the search, and comes back into his brother’s life with a dual incentive for getting back on the road. He’s got a new lead on the location of Libertalia, Every’s mythical pirate utopia. And he’s in trouble with the sort of people you really don’t want to be in trouble with. Sam, played by Troy Baker, is not just a handy device for getting Nathan out of retirement – he gives Naughty Dog that clean narrative break. Uncharted 3 wrapped up Nathan’s troubles in the present. Now, the series can dig into his past.
“Every time we add a character, it has to reflect some facet of the protagonist in an interesting way that the other characters don’t,” Druckmann tells us. “Bringing in a brother really lets us explore [the question of] ‘Who is Nathan Drake?’ How has he evolved over the series from the person he was before, and even as a kid? What led to the Nathan Drake you know?”
Yet Sam’s arrival means, at least on the face of it, that the new Uncharted will be missing something it has always done so well. While Straley and Druckmann shift awkwardly in their seats whenever we try to eke further story details out of them, and give coded references to Drake being with allies during some levels, currently our hero has no female foil. Elena, now Nathan’s wife, is seemingly back home, and none too pleased with him coming out of retirement at that. Nate and Chloe went their separate ways in Uncharted 3’s third act. It’s tempting to draw a line to Hennig’s departure, mirroring the lack of a female voice in studio and game alike, but Ellie and Tess in The Last Of Us weren’t her work either.
Currently, the only known female character in the game is Nadine Ross, the leader of the South African private army that patrols the Madagascan island in which the demo is set. She and her crew have been hired by Rafe Adler, another treasure hunter, who has a history with both Drake and his brother. They’re the enemy, but Druckmann doesn’t like to think of them in such terms. “When we’re writing for them, we’re thinking: ‘What’s their point of view?’ They don’t see themselves as antagonists. They see themselves as being righteous. It’s very important that we don’t see them as bad guys.” He takes a similar view to writing women. “You just write human beings. Don’t necessarily think of them as men or women, just write with a clear motivation and clear objectives. Be honest with those characters; don’t write them as clichés. That’s when they stop being human.”

Uncharted 4 takes many mechanical leaps forward, and Naughty Dog has smartly interwoven the game’s systems in a more fluid, dynamic way. But that alone does not a modern Naughty Dog game make. What defines this studio’s work is the way everything – mechanics, environments, characters – sits in service to a story. The demo begins with Nathan and Sam, a character sketched into existence to allow Druckmann and Straley to burrow into Drake’s past, pulled apart by a shipwreck. Sam signals to his brother from a high point far into the distance, the studio making a vast level and filling it with threats to properly convey the extent of their separation, and the importance of reuniting them. It’s set a few hours into the game, but the shipwreck has stripped Nathan of all his gear; he starts out with nothing, pulling the piton from a corpse early on, and scavenging weapons from enemies he puts down, another against-all-odds scramble to stay alive in a life that has been full of them. The whole scene is a metaphor for the brothers’ 15-year separation, a metaphor in which lots of people get punched in the face.
And scene is the word. “What we’re trying to do is look at everything, even the moments between cutscenes, as a scene,” Straley says. “There’s always something that’s happening with the character arc that’s important.” In the demo’s case, there’s a negative at the start in seeing how far away Sam is, and a positive at the end when you reach him; what happens in between is up to you. “We’re thinking in filmic terms, but what’s important for us is how much of that we can put on the [analogue] stick. That’s what we start with in the story discussions. Then, when we talk to the designers, it’s like, ‘This is where the characters are at, this is what we’re trying to do, and these are the mechanics we’re trying to exploit at this point. Let’s pull those things together and make the player feel what the characters are feeling’.”
For many studios, story is a secondary concern. Writers are brought on board late into development and tasked with fitting a narrative around a game that it is too far along to even consider changing. Yet for Naughty Dog, it is the first order of business. “I’m a big advocate of narrative structure, and that’s something we haven’t always done at the studio,” Druckmann says. “It’s very important that we know where we’re heading; even if it changes, you have to know the beginning, middle and end. Without that, I wouldn’t know how to direct a team. We have become more conscious of, more proficient at, storytelling. Whatever meeting we’re having – even if it’s background or character artists – we’re speaking the same language. We’re speaking as storytellers.”
Druckman and his team might be keeping quiet on the finer details, but while we naturally leave Naughty Dog hungry for more, we’ve already seen so much. The demo itself was smartly chosen, a fine showcase of the overhauled mechanics and how they work in concert; out on the studio floor we’ve seen how it has been made, with much of that best-in-class tech rebuilt from the ground up by some of the most talented developers in the world. Above all, we’ve seen an evolution: a studio moving onto new hardware, rethinking its approach to making games, learning from its successes and paying heed to criticism, while putting front and centre something that too many games leave to the end. “There’s something about the videogame as an artform that allows you to connect with a character in a way no other medium allows,” Druckmann says. “You’re directing someone’s actions, empathising with them in a way that’s unique to videogames. We’re just now starting to really understand how to capitalise on that.” No doubt Uncharted 4 will have its detractors, but if the studio holds to its new vision, no one will accuse it of repeating its past mistakes. In years to come, when crudely sketched webcomics say ‘Everything was Uncharted,’ the meaning will be very different.

[Jorge-Vieira]

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End to use TLOU Flashlight Tech

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, is undoubtedly one of 2015’s most eagerly anticipated titles. The Sony franchise has gathered millions of fans, and it now probably stands as one, if not the strongest PlayStation property. Members of the Naughty Dog team, during an interview with Spanish site HobbyConsolas, have shared their insight of how Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will use The Last of Us’ flashlight technology, to allow a variety of scenarios of exploration in dark areas.

Lead Designer Ricky Cambier, explained,

Yes, there will be a variety of scenarios exploiting the flashlight, always in relation to the story. For example in the demo [shown at PSX], while looking for his brother Nathan must enter a cave; some of the mysteries of the island will be observed while exploring its darkness.

Designer Kurt Margenau, added,

Yes, the flashlight allows us to design darker areas and take advantage of the animations allowed by the new hardware.

Finally, Director Bruce Straley, went on to further explain the implementation of the flashlight in Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End,

The good thing about the flashlight technology that we already used in The Last of Us is that, even though you’re entering a dark area, it’s not actually dark once you use the flashlight, and this creates a balance of sorts. Whenever we introduce new mechanics, we try to make it as efficient as possible in order to expand the game as a whole. For example, in this case you’ll be using the flashlight in puzzles to reveal something or even to highlight things in the environment, such as those crabs you see in the demo entering a skeleton. Small details like that gain importance simply by pointing the flashlight, which makes you feel part of the world.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, will feature some very atmospheric exploration moments

It appears that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, will feature some very interesting environments, and allow for great levels of exploration and discovery. The dynamic nature that the new technology will provide, will certainly enhance the experience, elevating the atmosphere of the game, and immersing players into captivating situations. The use of the flashlight to solve puzzles, could prove exciting, and as mentioned by designer Kurt Margenau, the PlayStation 4 hardware will allow for some really advanced lighting and shadow technology to be used in the game.




The Last of Us was indeed, an incredible single player experience, and one of the greatest video games ever made. It certainly used the flashlight technology in very interesting ways, to enhance the gameplay and tension of certain situations. The nature of the game though was more focused on its action sequences and stealth rather than exploration or discovery. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End on the other hand, employs more freedom for the player, to search and explore secret caverns and areas, to solve puzzles and traverse through.
The platforming elements of the franchise will likely provide another great use for the lighting technology, especially in dimly lit areas, that will further enhance the impact of certain situations, in which Nathan Drake finds himself into. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is definitely one of the titles I’m looking forward to this year, and I cannot wait to see some new footage of what Naughty Dog has achieved. Naughty Dog is certainly doing their best to enhance Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, even further, so chances are that what we get to see next, will impress us even further.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is stated for a 2015 release exclusively on the PlayStation 4 platform. We will bring you any new information regarding the game as soon as it becomes available.
You can view or download an uncompressed version of the gameplay demo over at Gamersyde.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-4-thie...#ixzz3Ss6cBmVB

[Winjer]

Among Friends: How Naughty Dog Built Uncharted 2

É um artigo longo para meter aqui, mas é uma boa leitura.

[Jorge-Vieira]

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End – Director Teases Emotional Scene

Neil Druckmann, Creative Director for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has shared a tweet, regarding the voice and motion capture work being done, and teased a scene featuring some serious feels, while praising his actors for their performance.


Neil Druckmann @Neil_Druckmann Follow
Man... these actors. Captured a scene today with some serious feels. Can't wait for you guys to experience this story. #uncharted4
3:28 AM - 28 Feb 2015

The voice and motion capture actors, Nolan North and Troy Baker, who play Nathan Drake and his brother Sam respectively, shared a picture from the set, in which they celebrate the memory of Leonard Nimoy.




Troy Baker ✔ @TroyBakerVA
Follow
RIP Leonard Nimoy. #LLAP
8:55 PM - 27 Feb 2015

Everyone in the entertainment industry, as well as millions of fans around the world, are saddened by the loss of such a great person and huge actor, and find ways to honor his memory in their own way.

The Uncharted series always had a big focus on emotional moments, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, seems to expand that trend even further

The Uncharted series, has always had a large focus on character development, and emotional scenes and that exactly, was one of the main reasons, it had such a big impact and appeal to many gamers. Through the experience, you get to care about Nathan Drake and the characters surrounding him, and besides providing the gamer with an enjoyable action adventure gaming experience, it moves you, it amuses you and at times it saddens you.

Video game experiences, over the years, have provided some very interesting storylines and characters, that have really affected millions of gamers. Now the video game industry is at a point where both production costs and storylines rival and even surpass those of the film industry. Interactive movies are very common in the gaming world, as more and more games give much more focus to providing a cinematic experience to gamers.


We should not be turned off by this, we should embrace and accept video gaming for what it has evolved to become, an interactive medium for beautiful, exciting and moving stories, that can both entertain us, as well as make us grow.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, does not have a specific release yet, but is expected to arrive sometime during the Holiday 2015 season. We will bring you any new information regarding Uncharted 4: A thief’s End as it becomes available. You can view or download an uncompressed version of the video over at Gamersyde.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-4-thie...#ixzz3TFC82qq6

[Jorge-Vieira]

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End “Likely to be 1080P/30FPS”

In the past Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has released some gorgeous looking concept-art, and more recently Neil Druckmann, Creative Director for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, teased us about how the story will have some very emotional elements and scenes. But now the Play UK magazine has gotten some hands on experience with the game and according to them it looks like it might after all end up running at 1080P 30FPS.

Naughty Dog won’t push Uncharted 4 to 60FPS if “it compromises player experience”

The gameplay demo that was shown last year during the PlayStation Experience (shown below) later was revealed by game director Bruce Straley, that the demo was in fact capped at 30FPS, he followed up by saying “We’re actually above 30, but we locked it [for the demo]”




Naughty dog has previously stated that they won’t compromise the player experience such as building smaller environments or using lower textures by trying to push the game to 60FPS.

“We’re going to do whatever it takes to make the game we want to make. If it means we could go for 60 but lose something that would really impact the player’s experience, then it’s our choice as developers to say, ‘Well, we’re going to go for the experience over the 60 frames.’”

And now after Play UK guys had some hands-on experience they indicate that Uncharted 4 will very likely end up running at 1080P 30FPS. The following is an excerpt from the latest issue of the magazine:

“While Naughty Dog’s first big reveal of Uncharted 4 was with a 60FPS trailer, cynics were quick to point out that even The Last of Us – an upscaled PS3 port – struggled to hold a steady 60FPS frame-rate. Although the studio said it was targeting this level of fluidity, it’s looking increasingly likely that the final game will be locked at 30FPS. The game’s not a twitch shooter, fighter or arcade racer so this shouldn’t hurt the game too much. It might even be that we see an unlocked frame rate as in Second Son or Tomb Raider, hopefully with the option to lock to 30 if desired.”

On the other hand it appears as the Animation quality is a big step up from the last-gen counterpart Uncharted 3, with Uncharted 4 reportedly having “60 animations for picking up ammo” compared to the the two different animations in Uncharted 3.
Uncharted 4 is slated for release on PS4 later this year, and who knows Naughty Dog might be able to push it to 60FPS but at the moment this seems unlikely, only time will tell.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-4-a-th...#ixzz3Td7oefNz

[Jorge-Vieira]

Uncharted 4 Gets Delayed to Spring 2016 to Meet the High Standards of The Dev Team

Earlier, we brought you news about the PS4 exclusive Uncharted 4 running in full hd and churning out a framerate locked at 30 frames per second. According to the recent information that has come to light, the game that was supposedly running 1080p at 30 frames per second is no longer going to be released in 2015. According to the game’s directors Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann, the game is not polished enough to keep up with the “ambitious” response from the fans. Hence has been delayed to Spring 2016 and will help the team meet its followers “High Standards”.

“Come Spring 2016, You and Nate Are In For One Thrilling, Emotional Ride” Uncharted 4 Director

The news comes from the official PlayStation Blog where the author Neil Druckmann happens to be a director for the upcoming game. According to the blog post, after the first gameplay reveal of the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, the developers have realised that the game’s expectations cannot be fulfilled in the amount of time they had. Hence, they decided to shift the release date some months further to Spring 2016. Here’s what the blog post reads:

“Since we showed you our first gameplay reveal of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, more of the game and story have come together, and it’s become clear to us that this game is much more ambitious than we originally envisioned.

After spending so many years with Nathan Drake, he means a lot to the team, and telling the climactic chapter of his adventures is a task we don’t take lightly — this game deserves every bit of the attention to detail, precise pacing, and nuanced storytelling Naughty Dog is known for. So we’ve made the difficult choice of pushing the game’s release date. Giving us a few extra months will make certain that Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End not only meets the team’s high standards, but the high standards that gamers have come to expect from a Naughty Dog title.
Thank you for your patience — we know the extra wait will be excruciating, but you’ll see it will be worth it as we reveal more about Uncharted 4 over the next year. The team at Naughty Dog will be heads down working through 2015 making sure that Nathan Drake’s story gets the closure it deserves. Come Spring 2016, you and Nate are in for one thrilling, emotional ride.
Bruce Straley & Neil Druckmann // Directors, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End”
So, yes it is official that the game is delayed and will be a 2016 release. Do share your views on the game’s delay in the comments section.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-4-dela...#ixzz3U5wfMDJ9

[Winjer]

Da Naughty Dog é sempre de esperar grandes coisas. São um estúdio que aposta muito forte em altos padrões de qualidade.
Se dizem que estão a adiar para melhorar é certo que é para vir coisa boa.

[Jorge-Vieira]

Uncharted 4 – Monkey Bars Maneuvers

Uncharted 4: A Thief’ End has been recently delayed until 2016, something that disappointed a lot of fans. Naughty Dog made a commitment that the extra time will be put to good use, to make Uncharted 4 the best it can be.

Jeremy Yates, lead animator for Uncharted 4, tweeted a picture of the work being done at the new stage. We can see some acrobatic maneuvers, that would definitely look amazing if the team take the extra time to attain that 60 fps, and not settle for 30. Yates work has always been exemplary, but Uncharted 4 could potentially make it shine just a bit brighter, by enabling the great work to be displayed in its full glory and not be restricted by hardware limitations.




Jeremy Yates @Jeremy_Yates
Follow
Taking our new stage out for a spin. #epicaction #Uncharted4 #lovemyjob
1:51 AM - 21 Mar 2015 Jesse La Flair

Several years after his last adventure, retired fortune hunter, Nathan Drake, is forced back into the world of thieves. With the stakes much more personal, Drake embarks on a globe-trotting journey in pursuit of a historical conspiracy behind a fabled pirate treasure. His greatest adventure will test his physical limits, his resolve, and ultimately what he’s willing to sacrifice to save the ones he loves.

As incredible as the gameplay reveal looked, it will look even better when we do get to see the latest build at E3, 2015 later this year. Let’s hope that the extended development period will allow Naughty Dog to deliver an experience unlike anything seen before.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will be releasing sometime in Spring of 2016. We will bring you any new information on Uncharted 4 as soon as it becomes available.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-4-monk...#ixzz3V8aZC0Jb

[Jorge-Vieira]

Uncharted 4 – Box Art Possibly Revealed by Amazon

Amazon updated its cover art for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and while Sony did not officially release the box art just yet, this seems quite believable.
You can check it out the cover art below:

Several years after his last adventure, retired fortune hunter Nathan Drake is forced back into the world of thieves. With the stakes much more personal, Drake embarks on his greatest adventure yet in a globe-trotting journey in pursuit of a historical conspiracy behind a fabled pirate treasure. However, every treasure has its cost and this adventure will test Drake’s physical limits, his resolve, and ultimately what he’s willing to sacrifice to save the ones he loves.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is the latest installment of the award winning UNCHARTED series.

Created by acclaimed developer Naughty Dog, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will launch exclusively for the PlayStation 4 system. Bringing the franchise into the new generation of gaming, A Thief’s End will be the most epic Uncharted adventure yet featuring new dynamic gameplay mechanics for combat and traversal, larger and more open environments to explore, and enhanced graphics and character animations to bring the game to life in a whole new way.
Set three years after the events of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Nathan Drake has presumably left the world of fortune hunting behind. However, it doesn’t take long for adventure to come calling when Drake’s brother, Sam, resurfaces seeking his help to save his own life and offering an adventure Drake can’t resist.
On the hunt for Captain Henry Avery’s long-lost treasure, Sam and Drake set off to find Libertalia, the pirate utopia deep in the forests of Madagascar. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End takes players on a journey around the globe, through jungle isles, urban cities and snow-capped peaks on the search for Avery’s fortune.
Naughty Dog released a quite interesting video detailing what the job of a Visual Effect Artist at the highly acclaimed studio entails. Aiming to attract new talent, VFX artists Eben Cook and Iki Ikram, give us a small glimpse of a work-in-progress explosion in Uncharted 4 (at the 2.54 mark) and of some shooting (at the 0:40 mark).






Naughty Dog is all hands on deck preparing for E3 2015

We have recently mentioned that Naughty Dog is all hands on deck in preparation for E3, and during a livestream to support Supply Drop 2015 the studio’s QA lead Trevor Stevens talked about the testing being done on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
Sony has recently announced the time and date for its E3 2015 Press Conference, which will be held at 6:30 PM PDT on Monday, June 15. The event itself will take place at the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles.
Sony Computer Entertainment CEO, Andrew House, during his presentation for the Electronics Investor Relations Day 2015, he shared his expectations for E3 2015.

“I think that E3 this year will be an exciting show. I think that it will be a show where we see the next generation of hardware really start to deliver great content and great experiences that if not take full advantage of the platform, will a lot more advantage than we’ve seen before.
I think we’re seeing games become bigger experiences, that trend has not changed. I gave a first party example with Bloodborne earlier, I was reading some of the game media reviews on that. Some of the gaming press were calling this “the first proper next-gen title.” I really hope to see more of these experiences emerging at E3.”

Guerilla’s open world RPG, Horizon, is probably going to be revealed with hopefully some beautiful gameplay, and we might get a teaser of Sucker Punch’ new title. We can hope for a PS4 God of War announcement as well.
Insomniac will give us a glimpse of the Ratchet & Clank reboot title for the PS4, which is a re-imagining of the franchise set to release alongside the movie in 2016. We will likely get a better look at Project Morpheus, along with a few VR optimised titles, and probably a release date for the device.
The new title from Quantic Dream should most definitely be revealed, which will surely be something to look forward to, as their Dark Sorcerer demo at E3 2013 was truly something spectacular and demonstrated the potential of the PlayStation 4 hardware in the capable hands of the Quantic Dream studio, led by the visionary David Cage.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is currently planned for a Spring 2016 release for the PlayStation 4. We will bring you any new information on Uncharted 4 and Naughty Dog as soon as it becomes available, but we can surely look forward to the game having a huge presence at E3 2015 later this month, and we will be sure to bring you full coverage from the show floor.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-4-box-...#ixzz3c6DlrILc

[Jorge-Vieira]

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Is Definitely Coming Today

Last night the mobile version of the PlayStation Store revealed the existence of an Uncharted bundle that included all of the previous titles for the PS3, but just for a few fleeting moments. Thankfully, it’s real and more details are coming later this morning.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection has been confirmed by Naughty Dog, though it appeared just a few hours too early.

After the discovery of the Uncharted bundle through the mobile PlayStation Store site the creative director for Naughty Dog sent a tweet substantiating its existence and reassuring us that it wasn’t a prank, but that someone was just a little too trigger happy that controls the PlayStation Store website.

Noticia completa:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-nathan...#ixzz3c6FAQLiX

[Jorge-Vieira]

[Updated] Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection Arrives in October With Remastered Graphics

Sony has officially revealed the existence of the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection bundle that includes all of the previous titles and makes them playable on the PS4. Thankfully, it’s real and we can pre-order now or wait until October to purchase the Uncharted collection.
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection has been confirmed by Naughty Dog and Sony, coming October 9th 2015 for the PS4.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection has now been confirmed by Sony, with a release date of October 7th in Europe and October 9th in North America, and it’ll definitely be coming to the PS4.
Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, which includes the single player campaigns for Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception, will also give you exclusive access to the Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta once that goes live, which is still TBA.
All three of the Uncharted games have been remastered to run at 1080P and at 60FPS with updated textures, lighting, models and higher polygon counts throughout. Of course with the remastered versions there will be new trophies to earn and a new Photo Mode.
If you happen to be in a pre-ordering mood, you’ll get some interesting extras with the Nathan Drake Pack. This pack includes a slew of different player skins and outfits to make your Drake unique, a Golden AK-47 and a Golden Beretta 92FS. Digital pre-ordering also nets you a cool Nathan Drake Collection PS4 dynamic theme.
If you’d like, you can watch the uncompressed trailer in all it’s glory right here.





[Original Story]After the discovery of the Uncharted bundle through the mobile PlayStation Store site the creative director for Naughty Dog sent a tweet substantiating its existence and reassuring us that it wasn’t a prank, but that someone was just a little too trigger happy that controls the PlayStation Store website.



Neil Druckmann @Neil_Druckmann
Well... that hit a few hours too early. See you in the AM. G'night y'all.
8:28 AM - 4 Jun 2015






Unfortunately I wasn’t able to confirm whether the bundle will just be a discounted collection for the PS3 or if they are indeed remade and remastered versions for the PS4. One would hope that they’re for the newer console, however.
More details will be revealed soon, and we’ll be updating as they come in.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/uncharted-nathan...#ixzz3c7eFWymu

[Jorge-Vieira]

Nolan North: “It’s Great That Naughty Dog Allowed Nathan Drake to Mature”

At a recent event in London, Nolan North, the man behind Nathan Drake, took to the stage with PlayStation Access’ own Hollie Bennett to answer your questions about working on the Uncharted series, including the upcoming Uncharted 4.

You can watch the video below:




Nolan North discusses motion capture and praises Naughty Dog for allowing Nathan Drake to mature:

“I think that it’s great that a developer has allowed the character to age and grow and mature with all of us,” he said. “Previously, this sort of thing never happened – y’know, it was always like… That’s the character and he’s going to go and kick ass again, let’s do it.”

He continues to talk about Drake’s character and how we can relate to him:

“If you think about the things that make him such an interesting hero it’s that he’s very much like all of us,” he added. “He’s a guy that never sought to be a hero, and he never starts the fight. But he always finds a way to get through things, like we all do – heck, I’ve got a 15-year-old son, so everyday’s a challenge.”

Nolan concludes:

“I’m so happy that they’ve allowed Nathan Drake to age, because otherwise I wouldn’t be playing him.”

Naughty Dog released a quite interesting video detailing what the job of a Visual Effect Artist at the highly acclaimed studio entails. Aiming to attract new talent, VFX artists Eben Cook and Iki Ikram, give us a small glimpse of a work-in-progress explosion in Uncharted 4 (at the 2.54 mark) and of some shooting (at the 0:40 mark).

Naughty Dog is all hands on deck preparing for E3 2015

We have recently mentioned that Naughty Dog is all hands on deck in preparation for E3, and during a livestream to support Supply Drop 2015 the studio’s QA lead Trevor Stevens talked about the testing being done on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
Sony has recently announced the time and date for its E3 2015 Press Conference, which will be held at 6:30 PM PDT on Monday, June 15. The event itself will take place at the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles.
Sony Computer Entertainment CEO, Andrew House, during his presentation for the Electronics Investor Relations Day 2015, he shared his expectations for E3 2015.

“I think that E3 this year will be an exciting show. I think that it will be a show where we see the next generation of hardware really start to deliver great content and great experiences that if not take full advantage of the platform, will a lot more advantage than we’ve seen before.
I think we’re seeing games become bigger experiences, that trend has not changed. I gave a first party example with Bloodborne earlier, I was reading some of the game media reviews on that. Some of the gaming press were calling this “the first proper next-gen title.” I really hope to see more of these experiences emerging at E3.”

Guerilla’s open world RPG, Horizon, is probably going to be revealed with hopefully some beautiful gameplay, and we might get a teaser of Sucker Punch’ new title. We can hope for a PS4 God of War announcement as well.
Insomniac will give us a glimpse of the Ratchet & Clank reboot title for the PS4, which is a re-imagining of the franchise set to release alongside the movie in 2016. We will likely get a better look at Project Morpheus, along with a few VR optimised titles, and probably a release date for the device.
The new title from Quantic Dream should most definitely be revealed, which will surely be something to look forward to, as their Dark Sorcerer demo at E3 2013 was truly something spectacular and demonstrated the potential of the PlayStation 4 hardware in the capable hands of the Quantic Dream studio, led by the visionary David Cage.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End is currently planned for a Spring 2016 release for the PlayStation 4. We will bring you any new information on Uncharted 4 and Naughty Dog as soon as it becomes available, but we can surely look forward to the game having a huge presence at E3 2015 later this month, and we will be sure to bring you full coverage from the show floor.

Noticia:
http://wccftech.com/nolan-north-grea...#ixzz3cCCuLDr5